Molded plastic closures such as for use on containers for carbonated beverages and the like have met with extremely widespread acceptance in the marketplace. Commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,378,893 and 4,343,754 disclose closures of this type, and highly efficient techniques for manufacture thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,765 discloses further techniques for manufacturing such closures, including manufacture of closures each having a tamper-indicating pilfer band. Each of the above-referenced patents is hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,938,370, and 4,978,017, both hereby incorporated by reference, each illustrate a plastic closure generally of the above type, with a tamper-indicating plastic pilfer band particularly configured for highly reliable and consistent tamper-indication. The pilfer band constructions disclosed in these two patents include pilfer bands which are at least partially detachably connected to an annular skirt portion of the closure, with a plurality of circumferentially spaced, inwardly extending projections provided for engagement with an annular locking ring of an associated container.
For some applications, it is desired that the pilfer band remain on the container after closure removal, and to this end, a suitable fracturable connection is provided between the pilfer band and the skirt portion of the closure so that the pilfer band entirely separates from the skirt portion. In contrast, for some applications (such as for returnable, reusable containers) it is desired that the pilfer band remain partially connected to the skirt portion of the closure, while portions of the pilfer band fracturably separate from the skirt portion to provide the desired visible indication of opening. For such applications, it is desirable to form the closure such that at least one portion of the pilfer band splits vertically, with the one or more band segments thus formed remaining joined to the skirt portion of the closure by at least one integral connector portion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,053, hereby incorporated by reference, illustrates one embodiment of such a closure, and a method of vertically scoring the closure pilfer band. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/958,014, filed Oct. 7, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,234, hereby incorporated by reference, illustrates a presently preferred configuration for such vertical scoring, including a pair of staggered vertical scores.
Experience has shown that consistent tamper-indication, and in particular consistent resistance to pilfer band fracture, or "pull strength", is facilitated by always positioning the vertical scoring of the pilfer band between adjacent ones of the inwardly extending projections of the band. This is in contrast to random disposition of the vertical scoring either between the projections, or in the region of, and partially or completely through, one of the projections. Heretofore, this preferred vertical scoring between the projections has not been possible during high-speed manufacture, since the closures are randomly oriented about their respective vertical axes during handling and scoring.
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for handling a closure during manufacture such that the closure is oriented in a predetermined orientation relative to the vertical axis of the closure, thus facilitating subsequent processing, such as vertical scoring of one or more predetermined portions of the closure pilfer band.